Mystery Date
by Mezzanine
Summary: Asuka? On a date? But what sort of MANIAC (besides Shinji) would do such a thing? **MULTI-PART**


DISCLAIMER:  
I don't own Neon Genesis: Evangelion, nor do I own any of the included characters or associated materials. This is a work of fiction for which said materials are used without permission, however this work is not for profit as well.  
  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
Ok, here's how this works. For those of you out there with limited series knowledge (nothing against you), this takes place towards in Episode 15 where Asuka goes on a date with someone as a favor to Hikari. The ADV English dub states it was "some med student", but seeing as this is ADV, and that it's ONLY in the English dub, I'll overlook that. The date is brushed over by Asuka and is never actually shown, only mentioned in passing. Hence, my thoughts basically were the same as Pen-pen's below, and I decided to explore it. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Mystery Date  
  
  
  
For an afternoon in the Katsuragi household, the air seemed surprisingly calm to the household pet penguin, aptly named "Pen-pen". The short, stubby penguin waddled his way from the bathroom with a white towel on his neck, although it was actually a hand towel from Misato's laundry pile. At times, he faintly resented the fact that his owner provided him with only the bare living essentials. Although he did have his own small, refrigerated living quarters, and though he was forced to subside off of the Major's beer stock, it was plentifully stocked most of the time.  
  
The damp, flightless bird opened a frosty Yebisu beer and drank it slowly while drinking in the comforting silence. Misato had headed off to some wedding or other, dressed as uncomfortably as possible and muttering about how Kaji would be late once again. The young boy Shinji was off to meet his father somewhere, and Pen-pen had overhead that the fiery redhead Asuka was on a date. That thought in particular struck the bird as strange.   
  
Ever since the young Ikari had moved into the formerly two-person apartment, things had worked differently at home for Misato. For Pen-pen, though, routine didn't seem to change all that much. The addition of Asuka was much more sudden than that of Shinji, and Pen-pen had found even some of his own belongings thrust aside with Shinji's to make way for the flamboyant girl. After the first week or so, normalcy (or what counted for it) seemed to set in again. Socially, the children were practically dead to the world when at home. They only seemed to leave home either for school or for something at NERV, in which case Misato would leave with them. In all his recollection, Pen-pen couldn't remember anyone in the apartment actually going on a date. He had his opinions of Shinji and the boy's feelings towards Asuka, but barring him, what sort of lunatic would actually want to date her?  
  
  
  
Asuka stood impatiently outside the entrance to Misato's apartment complex. Her green dress jacket swayed quietly in the breeze as she squinted at the small motorcycle down the road.  
  
"He rides a bike?" Asuka thought aloud to herself. "Does he really expect me to ride behind him on that little toy?"  
  
The black motorcycle slowed to a stop directly in front of her, kicking up a small cloud of dust that caused the young redhead to shield her face. The rider wore a black leather jacket emblazoned with a flaming skull and the name of what Asuka guessed was some American band. The black racing helmet was similarly patterned with flames along the side, and the mask was completely tinted, so Asuka could only guess that this was even a man. Nevertheless, she stifled a cough and waved cheerfully.  
  
"Hi there!" she squealed with a sugary grin.  
  
The rider paused a moment, staring at her from behind the tint of his mask. He removed the helmet with one hand and let a long black ponytail drape down to his back. Shaking his head once to straighten his hair, he looked back at her with a boyish grin and pale gray eyes.  
  
"Asuka..." he stated, almost as if he were remembering an old childhood friend. "I'm James Rockford," he said, pronouncing his name in what was apparently his native English, "but you can call me 'Jei'."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Jei-kun! Now, where would you like to take me?"  
  
James thought to himself for a moment. While Asuka didn't take notice, several images jumped unbidden into his mind that caused him to grin even wider.  
  
"Oh, I thought the entertainment complex, maybe? Then, dinner at one of the nicer German restaurants downtown. How does that sound, Asuka-chan?"  
  
Asuka jumped up onto the back of the motorcycle and slid as far as she could towards the back edge of the seat, taking care not to touch the boy's back with anything but her hands.   
  
"Sounds good to me... let's go!" Asuka said. With that, James put on his racing helmet and started the motorcycle again.  
  
"Umm, Jei-kun? Don't go too fast, unless you've got a helmet for me, too..."  
  
The boy paused for a moment before heading off. "Oh, that's right. Well, I'll take it easy."  
  
"Sure. Let's get going, already... I want to check out that new roller coaster they finished!"  
  
James revved the engine twice, and then took off down the road at a decent clip. The roads were fairly empty at this time of day, so the boy took advantage of the open road. Asuka's hair flew wildly behind her, and she grasped tightly around the American's waist.  
  
"I did my hair for nothing," Asuka muttered to herself, her voice drowned out by the wind"  
  
The young boy glanced sideways, yelling from behind his helmet. "Something wrong, Asuka?"  
  
"No! I'm fine!" she yelled.  
  
The boy nodded once and returned to watching the road. Asuka glanced forward at Jason's back and felt a tinge of embarrassment, finding herself face-to-face with some cartoonish flaming skull. She then turned to one side, hoping they would get there quickly. She sighed, though neither of the passengers heard it.  
  
  
  
"Kensuke! Buddy!" Toji called out to his friend, seeing him standing idly outside the downtown arcade.  
  
The brown-haired young boy looked up just in time to see the larger Toji staring down at him with a wide grin on his face. Toji definitely wanted something.  
  
"Toji! Hey, what brings you down to the arcade?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"I was gonna ask you that, Kensuke. Since when do you hang out down here?"  
  
Toji was absolutely correct. Kensuke never did enjoy going to the arcade all that much, especially since he had a habit of running into stolen copies of most of the current games on his laptop. Besides, the only time Kensuke was ever seen out of his house altogether was when school was in session.  
  
"I'm on a mission," he said, hushing all of a sudden and glancing to one side suspiciously.  
  
"Oh please, Kensuke. What mission?"  
  
Kensuke put an arm around Toji's shoulders and leaned in closer. "A spy mission, Toji. The unthinkable has happened, and I'm here to investigate the possible repercussions."  
  
Toji started to look slightly concerned, still not believing him. "What happened?"  
  
Kensuke started to speak, but caught something out of the corner of his vision. Toji saw him blink, and turned to look across the street where Kensuke was looking.  
  
"They're here!" Kensuke exclaimed. He took out a pocket audio recorder and flicked it on. "1536 hours... subjects arrived at destination..."  
  
"Who's that?" Toji asked, squinting. "Soryu?!?"  
  
Kensuke flicked off the recorder. "I was going to tell you, Toji. I found out from Hikari that she'd agreed to go on a date as a favor to her."  
  
"No way! With who?"  
  
Kensuke looked back at Toji. "You mean you didn't know? I thought you'd have found out from Hikari, being that..."  
  
Toji wrapped an arm around his head and pulled him into a tight headlock. "Finish that sentence, and they'll report you KIA," he growled.  
  
"Fine, fine! Sheesh!" Kensuke pushed away from Toji, dusting himself off dramatically. "Did you want something, or what?"  
  
"Oh yeah... I forget."  
  
Kensuke sighed. "Alright, then, why don't you help me out here? This could be big, y'know?"  
  
"Alright, I guess. Nothing else to do today, anyway," Toji said. Besides, there was a bit of morbid curiosity in him that wanted to know what Asuka on a date would look like.  
  
  
END CHAPTER ONE  
  
  
OK... comments and such welcome, positive or otherwise. Anyone still alive that read anything from my first series, Regression... well, chances are slim that I'll keep going, since I basically worked myself into a corner, but if anyone wants to see a continuation, please let me know. Also, prereaders would be fantastic, just so you know ^_^ 


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